 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ARTISTIC PLACEMENT
Just as in life, historical movements in music witness the inevitable "swing of the pendulum". At its height the Baroque movement had became overly complex and ornate. The reaction was a clearer, simpler classical style. In fact the progression from Bach to Mozart can be seen as a reaction to the elaborate Romanticism of the Baroque period.
After a thorough exploration and stylistic exhaustion of the classical territory led by Beethoven, there became a need for contrast: hence, the refreshing early Romantic writings of Mendelssohn, Schumann, etc. The late Classical period had become too theoretical, cerebral and complex to be able to reach an audience during its time as witnessed in the late quartets of Beethoven.
We are at a similar point in time of having exhausted the possibilities of music of the 20th century. We too have lost audiences through a proliferation of overly theoretical and cerebral concepts. And modern composers are now confused - some searching for something new, some frustrated by continuing down the same path.
Fantasia Suite is written in a 21st Century Neo-Romantic style with roots in the 18th and 19th Century and influences of the 20th Century such as Jazz, New Age and Minimalism. This beginning series is refreshing, - optimistic - simplistic and accessible, and yet grounded in the great classical traditions. It follows the natural historic pendulum swings in music.
Simple, refreshing, optimistic and accessible - are these not words that would describe the beginnings of Mozart and his new "classical" style, or Mendelssohn or Weber and their new "romantic" music.
Linda McCall, Producer
New York
Nov. 2005
|
|
|
|
